Seat belt terminal jacket



United States Patent SEAT BELT TERMINAL JACKET 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 297/385 Int. Cl A62b 35/60 Field of Search 297/385;

Primary Examin er-James T. M cCall Attorney-Price, Heneveld, Huizenga &Cooper ABSTRACT: This disclosure relates to a jacket for the terminalend of a seat belt wherein the jacket encloses the end of the belt andhas an anchor plate. The jacket has an opening at the bottom to permitthe stud to secure the anchor plate to the support and to permit theanchor plate to project out of the bottom of the jacket. A tongue on thebottom of the jacket is also secured by the stud to hold the jacket inplace. A belt-em closing sleeve on the jacket is formed by flaps whichcan be opened to receive the belt and closed to encase it after theanchor plate and jacket are fixed to the support by a stud.

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SEAT BELT TERMINAL JACKET DISCLOSURE This invention relatesto a jacketfor theterminal end of a seat belt for vehicles. In one of its aspects,the invention'relates to a seat belt with a terminal end anchor platehaving a jacket to cover the connection of the anchor-plate to asupport, the jacket having a tongue through whichit is fixed to anattaching stud, holding the jacket securely over the anchor plate,wherein a sleeve on the jacket is adapted to enclose the end of the beltafter the flap and anchor plate have been secured to the support.

Nicholas et al., U,S. Pat. No 3,305,266 discloses and claims a safetybelt terminal protector in which a sleeve at one end receives the end ofthe belt and at the other end is closed to extend around the terminalend of the anchor plate. An opening is formed at the bottom of theprotector and a flexible apertured tongue extends into the opening froman edge to secure the protector to the support through the anchor platestud. Theprotector is installed by threading-the terminal end of thebelt through the sleeve and pulling it out of the opening until a loopcan be formed in the end of the belt. The tongue and the anchor plateare then fixed to the the support by bending the protector upwardly withrespect to the support and inserting a wrench between the belt and thecover portion of the protector to secure the stud to the vehicle body.

It has been found that this protector'has been extremely effective forthe desired purposes. However, the threading of the belt end through thejacket sleeve and installation of the stud with the belt loop have beenfound to be more time consuming than desireable for the efficiencyorientated automobile indus- The invention of this application involvesan improvement over the protector described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No.3,305,266 which is incorporated herein by reference. The improvement hasthe superior properties of the above-described protector andadditionally has a split sleeve for more rapid and easier installationof the belt and protector into a vehicle.

By various aspects of this invention one or more of the following, orother, objects can be obtained.

It is an object of this invention to provide a safety belt terminalportion protector jacket which completely encloses the terminal beltportion, anchor plate, and fastener from moisture, dust, etc. on the topas well as on the end and the side edges of the anchor plate, yetemploys a headed fastener such as a stud and positively secures thejacket with the fastener as well as the anchor plate withoutthenecessity of threading the belt through a sleeve portion of theprotector jacket.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel safety beltterminal portion jacket that can itself be directly secured by a headedfastener, yet completely encloses the head of the headed-type fasteneras well 1 as enclosing an anchor plate and seat belt terminal portionwithout the necessity of threading the belt through a belt-enclosingsleeve. This type of attachment positively secures the jacket, holdingit against displacement when it is kicked or stepped upon.

It is another object of this invention to provide a safety belt jacketand jacket assembly that enables quick, simple assembly thereof andattachment to the vehicular support surface with a stud-type fastener tosecure allof the elements, with the jacket completely enclosing andprotecting all of the elements of the assembly without the necessity ofthreading the belt end through a belt-enclosing sleeve.

It is yet another object of this inventionto provide a safety beltterminal portion protector which is anchored to the fastening stud andcompletely covers the belt terminal portion and which protector can'bequickly and efficiently installed in place with a minimum of operation.

Other aspects, objects, and the several advantages of this invention areapparent to one skilled in the art from a study of this disclosure, thedrawing and the appended'claims.

According to the invention there is provided a safety belt terminalprotector having an elongated h'ollow jacket with a cross section andhave narrow edges and relatively wide side faces. The belt receivingportion is: tubular shaped having a first open end for protrusion of asafety belt out of the jacket,

and a passage into the anchor element-receiving portion. One side of thetubular portion is longitudinally open from end to end to permitinsertion of a belt therein without threading the same through thebelt-receiving portion. Means are provided for releaseably closing thetubular portion longitudinally to retain a belt therein. a i

The anchor element receiving portion has its terminal end closed, bothedges closed, one side completely closed, and an opening on the oppositeside. The opening has a width substantially equal to the width of theopen end to allow a section of the belt and an attached orificed anchormember on, the belt to pass therethrough. The anchorelement-receivingportion has a integral tongue extending part way across the opening fromone edge thereof, the tongue having an orifice therein to receive afastener, the tongue-being resiliently flexible to bend to an extendedposition generally normal to the regular position for allowinginstallation of the stud member through the tongue and the anchormember.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of the protector according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the flaps opened;

FIG. 3 is a view of the protector and the end of a seat belt showing themethod of installation; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the protector in place over the endof the belt and the anchor plate.

Referring now to the drawings, thereis shown a seat belt 12 having ananchor plate 14 secured. thereto in conventional fashion by a doubledback beltloop stitched to itself. The anchor plate 14 has an aperturepermitting the passage of a headed stud 16 therethrough for securingthe-terminal end of the belt to a support 20 such as in a' vehicle. Afastener 18 holds the threaded stud in place.

An integral, one piece protector jacket 22 has a sleeve 24 with a topportion '26 and flaps 28 and 30. The flaps are secured together aroundthe belt to form the sleeve through snaps. More specifically, the flap28 has a female snap member 32 and the flap 30 has a male snap member34.

At the other end of the jacket a foot 36 is formed integrally with thesleeve and at an obtuse angle thereto. The foot has a cover or top 38and is closed at the end portion and along the sides and is open on thebottom. A tongue 40 having an aperture 42 extends into the centralportion of the opening from the closed end of the foot portion.

To install the protecto'nthe tongue 40 is bent out of the plane of thebottom of the foot 36 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The anchor plate 14 ispositioned over the tongue 40 and a stud 16 is inserted through theaperture in the anchor plate and the aperture in the tab and through anaperture in a support 20. The stud 16 is then secured as by-installationof the nut 18.

'The flaps 28 and 30 are then opened so that the belt 12 can pass intothe sleeve. The flaps are closed around the belt to enclose the belt inthe sleeve. The snapthen secures the flaps together to retain the beltwithin the sleeve. 7

As is obvious from the foregoing, the improved protector jacket, wheninstalled, is adapted to function in a manner identical to the protectorof the Nicholas et al., US. Pat. No.

3,305,266 patent. However, the installation .of the earlier pro- Thisinvention opens up the protector, permitting engagement of the fastenerfrom above. Thus, there is quick and ready access even thoughinstallation has to be in a location where side access is limited orimpossible. Not only is installation time reduced, but the use of thistype of protector is now possible in those.,situations where previouslyit was impossible, or so difficiilt-thatit was not practical.

-*""'l-he jacket is integrally formed in one piece from a flexible andresilient material such as polyvinyl chloride. The material issufficiently flexible to permit flexing of the tongue out of its rsleeve portion and a foot portion and each of said portions having a topface and a bottom face; the end of said sleeve portion remote from saidfoot portion being open to provide a belt passageway and the end of saidfoot portion remote from said sleeve portion being closed; the bottomface of said foot I portion having an opening therethrough and anapertured tongue projecting into said opening from said closed end forsecuring said foot portion after installation, the improvement in saidterminal protector comprising: the bottom face of said sleeve portionbeing formed ofa pair of flaps capable of being flexed to a spacedposition to receive the belt into said sleeve portion; said flapsextending the entire length of said sleeve portion from said open end tosaid opening in the bottom face of said foot portion whereby saidterminal protector may be flexed'with respect to said tongue whichpermits vertical access to the aperture in said tongue from above.

2. A safety belt terminal protector according to claim 1 wherein saidsleeve portion is formed by a closed side and a pair of overlappingflaps.

3. A safety belt terminal protector according to claim 2 wherein saidflaps are secured together through snaps.

4. A safety belt terminal protector according to claim 1 wherein saidflaps are secured .togetherwby -a separable fastener. I r

5. In a safety belt and anchor :plate terminal protector hag;

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a water repellent, dust repellent jacket havinga generally flattenedcross section with twoclosed edges on two wide sides, to receive andclosely encompass a safety belt portion of an attached oriflced anchorplate; said jacket having one end open for belt extension therefrom, andthe other end closed to extend around the end of said anchor plate; and

one of said sides being closed, and the other side having a flexible,orificed anchor tongue formed in said other side for protrusion out ofthe bottom plane by said jacket for attachment of said anchor tongue toa support, the improvement which comprises: said other side havingseparable flaps between said open end and said anchor tongue to permitinsertion of said belt into said jacket while said anchor plate and saidanchor tongue are fixed to a support; and means for releasably holdingsaid flaps together so as to retain said belt within said jacket.

6. A safety e belt and anchor plate terminal protector according toclaim 5 wherein said holding means comprises a snap fastener having afemale portion on one flap and a male fastener on the other flap.

7. A safety belt and terminal protector according to claim 5 whereinsaid support forms a portion of a vehicle.

